Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Chancellor Robert R. Livingston could be a powerful
and influential friend to have. Unfortunately, it was very easy to earn the
man’s enmity. As a result, Livingston retained few friends for long periods of
time. His three most significant friends from before the Revolution were
Richard Montgomery, Gouverneur Morris and John Jay. All three men were at one
time or another as close as brothers to the Chancellor but over the years the
closeness ended.

Richard
Montgomery was married to Chancellor Livingston’s older sister, Janet. The two
men became close friends often spending time talking science, agriculture and
politics. Both had similar political leanings. Both were sent to New York to
guide New York in the early days of the war. Livingston was chosen to go to
Congress in Philadelphia while Montgomery remained in New York. With
Livingston’s influence, Montgomery was selected as a brigadier general in the
new army. On the last day of 1775 his friendship with Livingston came to a
sudden and rather violent end when he was struck by several grapeshot while
leading an assault on the city of Quebec.

Gouverneur MorrisLadies man and leading Peter Stuyvesantimpersonator of the 18th century (not really, probably)

The real death of Montgomery was less poetic and neat andmore grapeshot in the head

Gouverneur
Morris met Livingston at King’s College, when he entered a few years behind the
Chancellor. Morris and Livingston had similar backgrounds, both were from
landed family, and, again, similar political leanings. During the war they
frequently served together in various bodies or corresponded about their
respective duties. Livingston even had Morris check into the background of
Thomas Tillotson when he proposed marriage to one of the Chancellor’s younger
sisters. If there was one thing about Morris that Livingston particularly
disliked, it was Morris’s penchant for the ladies. Livingston once even took the
time to write a letter to Morris admonishing him for spending time with ladies
when he should have been attending to his Congressional responsibilities. Given
his reputation as a Lothario it is unlikely that Livingston would trust Morris
alone with his wife, mother, daughters, or sisters. After the war Morris moved to Pennsylvania and his duties took him away
for long periods of time. While he and Livingston never formally ended their
friendship they had lost the closeness they once shared.

John JayDecent judge, terrible diplomat

John
Jay was the Chancellor’s closest friend for many years. The two had also met at
King’s College. After graduating they served their time as law clerks at the
same time and passed the bar together. They briefly operated a law firm together
and became fairly prominent in New York City society life. Jay even married a
cousin of Livingston’s. As they matured they became the god father to each
other’s children. In 1776 they made plans to live together with their wives
while attending Congress but an illness for Sarah Jay prevented this from
happening. During the war the men wrote the lion’s share of the New York
Constitution together, they worked on the defense of the Hudson River together
and they were even involved in some counter espionage together.

The
brother like closeness these two men shared makes the ending of their
friendship all that much more tragic. The first cracks appeared during the war.
In 1777 Jay tried to slip some anti-Catholic clauses into the New York
Constitution which Livingston prevented. Later when Livingston was Secretary of
Foreign Affairs and Jay was one of the peace negotiators in France, Livingston
rebuked the negotiators for exceeding their authority and keeping the French in
the dark about their negotiations. Jay responded with an enormously long letter
explaining their reasoning.

After
Livingston issued the oath of office to George Washington, making him the first
President of the United States of America, his relationship with his friend Jay
was further strained. Jay was made Chief Justice of the Supreme Court while
Livingston received no federal title. Not only was Jay earning his enmity but
so was the entire Federalist party.

In a
relatively short amount of time Robert Livingston would switch his allegiance
to the Democratic-Republican party and bring along most of his family or
“faction” as his political enemies preferred to call it. In 1795 John Adams
celebrated the defeat of Tillotson for office as a victory over the Chancellor
in a letter to his wife. “Mr. King is re-elected by the Legislature of New York
by a majority of five in the House and two in the senate, in opposition to Mr.
Tillotson, whom you know, to have married a Sister of Chancellor Livingstone.
This is a great Point gain’d.”[i] Of course Adams had always hated Livingston
although he blamed their animosity on Livingston saying “The Passion which has
influenced the Chancellor, through Life has been envy of Mr. Jay, and
consequent Jealousy of the Friendship between Mr. Jay and me. He hated me because
I was the friend of Mr. Jay.”[ii] The relationship between
the Livingstons and the Federalists became so bad that a cousin of
Livingston’s, Maturin Livingston, very nearly dueled Alexander Hamilton in 1796
but Hamilton begged off because he already had another duel scheduled.[iii]

It
seemed that Livingston and Jay had a chance to become friends again in 1794,
until Washington sent Jay to England to negotiate a new treaty that would tie
up some loose ends from the Revolution. When the text of what became known as
the “Jay Treaty” became generally known John Jay became one of the most hated
men in America. People felt he had conceded far too much to the British. Jay
was quoted as saying he could have traveled from Boston to Philadelphia at
night by the light of his burning effigies. Livingston was perhaps the loudest
voice criticizing the treaty. He published a series of letter under the pen
name “Cato” blasting the treaty and even wrote directly to Washington to
pressure him not to ratify it. To Washington he wrote; “Nothing but your glory
can save under these circumstance the honor of our nation.”[iv]

Nope, still not this George Clinton

In
1795, while he was still in England, Jay had been elected governor of New York
when long time governor George Clinton declined to run again. Many had expected
Livingston to be Jay’s opponent in the election but the Democratic-Republican
surprisingly chose Robert Yates, whom Jay easily defeated.

Abigail Adams,Actually thought the Chancellor wasworse than Satan

Three
years later the Chancellor was chosen to run against Jay. The election was
tough and dirty. Vicious ads and letters filled the newspapers. It attracted
the notice of people in other states. Abigail Adams wrote to her son John
Quincy Adams of the Chancellor “An insatiable Ambition devours the Chancellor.
To see Mr. Jay stand higher in the publick estimation and Elected chief over
him; fills him with the same sensations, which Milton puts into the mouth of the
Arch Fiend. “Better to Reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.””[v] That’s right. She compared
him to Satan. Thomas Jefferson wrote to James Madison “Hard elections are
expected there between Jay & Livingston.”[vi]

Worse yet the Federalists of New York moved in
masse against the Chancellor. Alexander Hamilton, who had never forgiven
Livingston for opposing his financial plans in the 1780’s, went so far as to
write to Timothy Pickering to ask him to examine the papers of the Chancellor
from his time as Secretary for Foreign Affairs looking for ammunition to use
against him.[vii]

Philip "Ow, My toe hurts to much to fight" Schuyler

At
one point during the campaign Livingston paid a visit to Philip Schuyler at
Schuyler Mansion in Albany. Livingston and Schuyler had often found themselves
on the same side during the war, even though a very convenient case of gout
kept Schuyler from commanding the expedition against Canada which effectively
ended with Montgomery’s death. Livingston complained of Jay and the federal
government, perhaps forgetting the Schuyler was Alexander Hamilton’s
father-in-law. No sooner had Livingston finished his rant and departed the
house than Schuler put quill to paper to report the meeting to Hamilton; “he
and his friends are Assiduous in blackening Mr. Jay’s character.” He went on to say of the Chancellor “The man
my dear Sir has worked himself up to such a pitch of Enmity against our
Government as approaches Madness.”[viii]

Livingston
lost the election. Three years later Thomas Jefferson sent him to France. He
returned a few years later having doubled the size of the country with the
Louisiana Purchase and went on to a life of success in agriculture and
business. In the meantime, his “faction” had seen to the end of the political
careers of Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. Jay had retired from public
service in 1801 to become a farmer but he and Livingston never spoke again.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Two servants in the Maizeland household support baby Kay
Timpson on a bicycle, while grandfather John Henry
Livingston looks on. c. 1903

I was doing some research for a project on the importance of bicycles to turn-of-the-century American women, when I came across these pictures in the recently-donated Katharine Livingston Timpson collection.

They're fabulous pictures for all kinds of reasons--from John Henry's affectionate gaze at his granddaughter Kay, to the personal and rare portraits of two household servants. But the reason these photos caught my eye this time is of course the bicycle.

New York Journal, 1896, from the Library of Congress

Not long after the introduction of the safety bicycle and then the drop-frame bicycle marketed towards women in the late 1880s, America was seized with a cycling craze. With increased popularity and increased production, bicycles became pretty affordable by the 1890s, putting them within reach of the middle and even some of the working class. The lyrics to the popular song "Daisy Bell" put a point on this by crooning,

It won't be a stylish marriage I can't afford a carriage But you'll look sweet Upon the seat Of a bicycle built for two.

Just as Daylight Was Breaking,
from the Library of Congress

As with so much else, there was an element of romance to the bicycle. Unmarried ladies and men were able to able to ride together without a chaperone, and the idea of the "New Woman" daintily speeding by on a bicycle took on a bit of a titillating note. The 1896 song "Julienne!"

Oh have you seen a pretty girl so neat With golden hair and little dainty feet Upon her wheel go riding down the street A perfect little belle in every way She is the girl who sets their hearts on fire A trifle pert; a rogish flirt And there's not a chap in town that doesn't say Oh Julienne, oh Julienne I her so I talk and think and sing of her wherever I go She's just the face and figure to attract all men I've never loved a girl as I love Julienne

Men and women both readily took to "the silent steed," forming a bazillion bicycling clubs, competing in races, and just generally being out and seen on a bicycle. Club-sponsored rides or "runs" challenged participants to do a hundred miles in a single day, called a "century." Less formally, men and women turned out by the hundreds in good weather to take advantage of the best roads and get a little fresh air. In fact, the League of American Wheelmen and other bicycling clubs were big advocates for paving American roads, years before the automobile cruised them.

from Clermont's collections

Bicycling even had an impact on fashion, finally giving common women the incentive to try out some of the recommendations that dress reformers had been pushing for over forty years. In order to make bicycling more comfortable and safer, women made themselves bicycling outfits, hemming their skirts a few inches above the ankles and reducing the number of petticoats to the bare minimum. Some more serious women--like round-the-world cyclist Annie "Londonderry"Kopchovsky--even made bloomers for bicycling, though the garment was highly controversial and often the subject of ridicule.

Shirk bicycle ad, 1890s
from the Library of Congress

As bicycling became ubiquitous in America, it became a little bit of a victim of it's own success. At the end of the 1890s, bicycle club membership was slipping. Pretty soon their novelty was eclipses by the automobile, and bicycles lapsed into the background as an overlooked part of daily life.

So what does all this have to do with that one bicycle that appeared at Maizeland one summer afternoon in 1903?

As usual when presented with a nifty picture and little context: I don't exactly know. Still, linking the household to this wider movement does give us some interesting context on the Livingstons. Here they are participating in this national craze--albeit a little late.

Theo Timpson as a toddler, surrounded by
others with unknown identities. c. 1903

Who's is this bike? The frame shows it to be a man's bicycle, possibly a tall man's. Could it be that John Henry, who has stripped down to his shirt sleeves in the first photo, rode this bicycle a few miles down the road from Clermont to show it to his daughter in Red Hook? Maybe. Or maybe it belongs to the taller of the two boys in the picture at right (with Theo perched atop the seat). He is wearing knickers, which could be either for bicycling or merely a symbol of his youth.

Nevertheless, it does point out the ubiquity of the bicycle and the kind of novel excitement it still conjured when one was brought to the house. Now if only we knew just which Livingston man was cruising the roads of Dutchess County on his wheel...